Armenian Cinema

Distinguished Armenian filmmakers, actors, screenwriters and producers include Sergei Parajanov,Henrik Malyan, Atom Egoyan, Rouben Mamoulian, Mikael Vardanov, Artavazd Peleshian, Steven Zaillian, Cher, Vigen Chaldranian, Charles Aznavour, Howard Kazanjian, Roman Balayan, Karen Shakhnazarov, Edmond Keosayan,Amo Bek-Nazarov,Michael Poghosian,Levon Mkrtchyan ,Sevada,Sergey Danielyan and a few others. The greatest Armenian film, regarded as one of the most important masterpieces of the 20th century, is undoubtedly Sergei Parajanov's "Sayat Nova" also known as "The Color of Pomegranate(s)". Other undisputed classics of Armenian cinema (produced in Armenia) that gained international attention are also Bek-Nazarov's silent "Pepo" (1935), Parajanov's short documentary "Hakob Hovnatanian" (1967), Peleshian's short documentary "The Seasons" (1975), Mkrtchyan feature "Zoravar Andranik" a film about the great Armenian General ,who was the national hero of Armenia, Vardanov's feature documentary "Parajanov: The Last Spring" (1992), Dovlatian's feature "Hello it's me" (1966), Mkrtchyan's feature "Tango of our childhood" (1985) and Gennadi Melkonian's short comedy "The Mulberry Tree" (1979). Distribution of Armenian movies has been somewhat limited due to a small market of Armenian speakers, Soviet Union's censorship and lack of financing. Most Armenian films have been produced by the state studio Hayfilm during the Soviet era. After independence, production dropped catastrophically but a recent privatization (2005) may change that.

"After a near fatal accident in present day Armenia, a woman suffering with amnesia begins to remember a life that occurred many centuries ago. The childhood spent in an enchanted solitude. The father she adores. The husband she worships. The son she would sacrifice everything for…And the fate that would shape the history of her nation."

"The Priestess," written by Chaldranian and renowned Armenian screenwriter Anahit Aghasaryan, draws inspiration from "an anonymous woman" recorded in the mysterious Fourth Century manuscript 'The History" by Armenian historian Agathangelos. This unknown, yet consequential woman, becomes the keystone to Armenia's history as the first nation to accept Christianity.

"Parajanov: The Last Spring" (1992)
Mikael Vardanov's influential documentary film, winner of Armenia's only Russian Academy Award, as well as the Golden Palm Award of the Beverly Hills Film Festival and the Golden Gate Award of the San Francisco International Film Festival.
http://www.parajanov.com/lastspring.html

"Pierlequin"
Lighter than Air
Armenia | 2000 | b&w | 102 mins | dir. Tigran Xmalian, with Vladimir
Msrian, Hrach Harutunian, Anush Khorenian
Xmalian's charming feature is a surreal, bittersweet love story on his
homeland and culture. Moving from the 1960s to the `90s and centred
around the iconic figure of a clown who was loved by Armenian
audiences, Pierlequin creates a world of tenderness and magic among the
challenges facing contemporary Armenia.

"Gariné Torossian Artists' Film Programme"
Short Films Programme | 90 mins
Toronto-based Gariné Torossian will present a selection of her
strikingly multi-layered shorts. Like Egoyan, Torossian's work is
informed by migration and she has turned to experimental film-making to
conjure the primary forces of the Armenian diaspora.

"Armenian National Cinema"
A broad consideration of the unique qualities of Armenian cinema, both
within the country and diaspora, and reflections on its place in soviet
and world cinema, and on the difficulties facing contemporary production
in the country. With Armenian cinema specialist Nora Armani, film-makers
Gariné Torossian and Tigran Xmalian and film critic Artsvi Bakhchinyan.
Moderator: Gareth Evans, editor of Vertigo magazine and festival
co-programmer.

"Artavazd Peleshian"
Short Films Programme | 120 mins
Among the most astonishing short works in the history of cinema, the
profoundly intense films of Artavazd Pelechian are visionary
examinations of human and cosmic themes. Largely wordless and rhythmic,
they are edited with a mastery of scale and rhythm which makes all life
on earth swarm and bloom through the celluloid.

"Return to the Promised Land"
Armenia | 1991 | b&w & col | 80 mins | dir. Harutiun Khachatryan
Katchatryan's audacious film is a strikingly photographed study of an
Armenian farmer and his family surviving in a harsh landscape in an
abandoned, snow-clad village. As the first crops come to life, the
village children smile again and dance to the tunes of the visiting
tightrope walkers and musicians. However, danger still lurks in the
distance...

2 short films:
"Lux Aeterna" & "Terra Emota"
France | 1999 | b&w & col | 10 mins each | both dir. Levon Minasian and Serge
Avedikian
Impressionistic dispatches from the fault line: an earthquake in 1988
devastated Gyumri, Armenia's second city. Levon Minasian was in the
city at the time and caught the destruction on film. Ten years later, he
returns to find a city still dealing with the legacy of such a disaster.

"Last Station"
Armenia / France / UK | 1995 | col | 93 mins | dir. Harutiun Khachatryan
and Nora Armani, with Nora Armani, Gerald Papasian, Armen Djigarkhanian
A stage couple from the Armenian diaspora travel the world performing a
play about their national identity and history. Shot on location with
its real-life protagonists, Last Station skillfully mixes documentary
and fiction to explore love, exile and the artistic dilemma of belonging.

"Ararat, Genocide Remembrance and Armenian Cinema"
A consideration of the legacy of the Armenian genocide and its cinematic
incarnations. Is it even possible to represent such a vast and traumatic
subject on film? With Nouritza Matossian (biographer of Arshile Gorky
and consultant to Ararat), critic Artsvi Bakhchinyan, genocide historian
Ara Sarafian and Nora Armani. Moderator: Gareth Evans.

"Komitas"
West Germany | 1988 | b&w & col | 96 mins | dir. Don Askarian, with
Samuel Ovasapian, Onig Saadetian, Margarita Woskanjan
A portrait of the great Armenian composer who was traumatised into
silence following the 1915 Genocide, Komitas is an episodic and poetic
meditation that seeks to find a visual language, somewhere between
Tarkovsky and Paradjanov, to convey the suffering of an entire people.

"General Andranik" documentary film. A film about the great Armenian General Andranik,who was the national hero of Armenia.Armenfilm |1990 |Director Levon Mkrtchyan (narration by Khoren Abrahamyan)

"Lovember"
Armenia | 2004 | b&w | 99 mins | dir. by Tigran Xmalian
In Xmalian's latest lyrical feature, an odd young couple - a nurse and a
street musician - meet first as the witnesses of accident. Troubles
pursue them and they decide to challenge fate in an extraordinary way -
by giving birth to a new God. Dialogue-free, the film is threaded
through with the music of Prokofiev.

"Exhibitions in the Foyer"
Film-maker Gariné Torossian will exhibit stunning colour images from her
multi-layered films and Ann Doherty will show her photographs of people
and landscapes from contemporary Armenia.

"Garden Dwelling"
by filmmaker Tina Bastajian
Bastajian's 29-minute "Garden Dwelling" is an oblique travel diary,
recounting four Armenians' visit to eastern Turkey in 2003. The film
doesn't cover their daily itinerary or major sights, but rather the
spaces in between: the awkward translations, the mystifying exchanges,
and the unspoken tensions that still linger across a closed border.